A Bible Study about  "Hearing from God!" 
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"HEARING FROM GOD"
How do we hear from God?
By Evangelist Diana Gray
Copyright (c) 2,001 All Rights Reserved

     The way to hear from the Lord is to fully open up and receive as He speaks to you in a 'Small, Still Quiet Voice.'  Not by the roar of a mighty wind or a loud booming voice that everyone around you would be able to hear but a small quite, loving voice that only you can hear.  Worldly people only think to call that small voice their 'conscience' but it has far deeper implications than simply that. 
     Just as Elijah heard from the Lord God through this "Still Small Voice," we should strive to do the same thing.  Some people  think that a person has to hear with fleshly ears the voice of God in order to know what He wants them to do.  This is not true although it can happen like that, God can do anything.  Normally the Lord speaks to us with a "Still Small Voice."  In order to hear from God we need to get into some Meat of the Word for Holy Spiritual understanding.

LET'S PRAY For Godly wisdom and knowledge as well as a deeper understanding of scripture.  Pray that the Lord reveals His truth to our hearts and renews our minds as He  richly leads our lives into deeper spiritual growth.  Always pray in Jesus' name! 
    ( I could have prayed with you here as I have done in other Bible Studies, but I wanted you to begin this Bible teaching by talking to God to open up the communication between you and Him.  You will understand more about what I am trying to share with you as you read this Study.  At the end of this writing we will pray again.)

     I Kings 19:11-13 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.  And it was so, when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?

     People need to have spiritual understanding in this area of their lives.  You have what the world calls a "conscience"  ..........this in reality is really the "Holy Spirit Speaking to You" .........the conscience is the Lord's way of talking to you.  When you realize this fact the rest of what I am going to say will become much easier and allow you to tune into the voice of the Lord.  It will take discipline and allow your self to hear and tune into Him.  This is the Lord's way of speaking to you.  Listen to Him!
     This Holy voice only will tell you what is good for you.  Conviction, correction, prompting, leading of the Holy Spirit's guidance.  Satan the devil tells you to do evil, bad, hateful things but the Lord will only tell you "good" righteous things.  This is how you know that the Lord is speaking to you.  I know that this is maybe getting into the Meat of the Word of God a little deeper than you might be used to, but allow yourself to spiritually grow.  Allow yourself to ponder upon this teaching for Godly wisdom and His deeper understanding.  The more that you seek to spiritually grow the more humble your heart will become, as you strive to do the Lord's will for your life.
    Sometimes you may feel the things this voice or what the world calls 'conscience' is telling you to do you don't want to do but you KNOW deep down in your heart that it is the right thing to do.  You really know (if you admit it to yourself,)  that you are being told to do is the right thing to do in spite of how you feel about any given situation.  Satan the devil always tells you to do wrong things or to satisfy the sinful, carnal flesh of yours but even if it hurts, the Lord's Holy Spirit's small voice will only tell you what is good for you. 
     Now a choice will have to be made and that is whether or not to obey or to stubbornly refuse to obey out of sinful disobedience.  To sin or not to sin, is the question that is repeated over and over again all day long.  Ever notice that when you do the right thing in spite of the fact you with your fleshly desires wanted to do the opposite, you tend to sleep better at bedtime.  Some people call it a 'clear conscience' but we know that in reality, it is the Holy Spirit' small quite voice guiding us to do the right thing.  When we obey in spite of how we may have felt we are blessed with a measure of peace knowing that we did the right thing.
     God does allow us free choice!  He will not force a person to do something against their will but.....if a person refuses to listen to that small quite voice full of Godly wisdom then they will have to suffer the consequence.  This is why we feel ourselves under deep conviction for the sins that we commit.  Being obedient to that Godly voice is a daily battle between 'Godly good' and 'demonic evil.'  This why we need to be constantly praying seeking the will of our Heavenly Father for our lives.  Prepare your heart to receive what the Lord has for you to receive from Him and by listening to this small quite voice you will be steadily moving closer to the Lord's will for your life.

HOW DO WE PREPARE OUR HEARTS TO HEAR THE VOICE OF THE LORD?  It's not hard to hear the Lord once you know what to listen for.   The hard part is in obeying that 'Still Small Voice.'  Let's look at some ideas to help further your understanding.

1)  Daily Praise and Give Thanksgiving to God!
    Hebrews13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
    Psalm 69:30 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.
    Psalm 100:4-5 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.  For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
     Start your day out by praising the Lord for all that He has done for you in your life.  Praising the Lord for all the wonder that He has created and the glory of all the earth.  Thanking God for sending down His Son to die on the cross for our sins. To pay the high price so that we might through that blessed love have Salvation.  Thanking the Lord for proving that we too can be raised up again from the dead even as Jesus did on the third day and now sits at the right hand side of the Father.  Praise and thank Jesus for remembering us when He comes back for us at the time that He will Rapture His Christine church of born again,  faithful believers.

2) Daily Repent of Your Sins!
    Proverbs 15:29 The Lord is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous. 
    Romans 6:23 The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
    When the the voice of the Lord tells you that you are in sin than you need to pull ourselves up short and pay attention to that fact.  Learn to listen to that 'Still Small Voice' it is coming from the Holy Spirit.  He will only be telling you honest righteous things.
    Hebrew. 10:26-27  If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 
    Hebrew 3:7-8  As the Holy Spirit says:"Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion."
    2 Cor. 5:10  We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. 
     Repenting for any and all sins (known and unknown or recognized is what the Lord would have us do and He talks to us about our wrongs through that blessed small voice.  Many times we do things wrong but our own selfish pride keeps us from facing the fact that we need to ask the Lord to forgive us for our wrongful thoughts and actions. We need to repent of our sins before the Lord in very real repentance with a humbled heart.) Here is another reason why we need to repent for our sins:
     Isaiah 59:1-2  Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.  But your iniquities have separated you from you God;  your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
Confession of sins have a great reward, we are made clean again.
    I John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

3)  Daily Talk to God!
     Phillippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
     Take whatever problems that we are having before the Lord and make our requests known unto Him.   How wonderful that we can truly do that.  What a blessing!
It means: talking and sharing our lives with the Lord in a humble, honest way.  It means being honest and real.  The Lord knows everything about us any way so we may as well be open and honest with Him. 

4)  Listen to the Holy Spirit's Still Small Voice for they are LIFE unto you!
     John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
     This verse clearly confirms what I have been teaching you through the leading of the Lord.  "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." The Lord speaks to us by the Holy spirit and is alive to us.  We just have to learn to listen to that "Still Small Voice!"  Without this voice we wouldn't know clearly when we are being convicted of sin and a need to repent, not to mention being told Godly guidance.  Truth is revealed to us, (in our minds or hearts) and we are then able to respond with a good Godly choice of action or a rebellious reaction.  The choice is up to us! 

IN CONCLUSION: 
     When you allow yourself to get tuned into this tiny quiet voice, at first you will only hear a word or two like..........."Yes, ....No,... Don't do that" et.  But after awhile you will begin to hear whole sentences.  When you allow yourself to become sensitive to the Lord's prompting and leading you will start to hear Him tell you 'why' you should do a particular thing or not do a particular thing.  The more you get mentally in tune to what this "Still Small Voice" you will begin to have revelation knowledge and understanding of the will of the Father God.  You will find that after awhile He won't have to speak many words for you to know or understand fully what the Lord wants you to do. 
     We still have sin in our lives from our birth but in time the Lord helps us recognize our shortcomings and leads us in the pathway of righteousness.  If you desire to get close to the Lord, this along with prayer and submission to His will is the way.   Practice listening to this small quite voice!  Force your attention and allow yourself become fully aware that the Lord is speaking to you. 

LET'S PRAYHeavenly Father we love and worship you above all others.  Lord you are great and have blessed our hearts with your Word.  How great is your light and love.  Lord we thank you for this new wisdom and knowledge as well as a deeper understanding of your scripture.  Thank you Lord for revealing Your truth to our hearts and renewing our minds.  Lord you have richly led our lives into deeper spiritual growth with your truth.  Thank you for filling us with Your Holy Spirit and talking to us in your wonderful "Still Small Voice!"  We praise and give you all the glory, in Jesus' name Amen.

May the Lord be with you and guide you into all things,
Your servant in Christ, Sister Diana Gray

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     "PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE THE AUTHORSHIP OF THIS WRITER "DIANA GRAY MINISTRIES."  MAY IT BE A BLESSING AND ENCOURAGE YOU INTO A DEEPER SPIRITUAL GROWTH.